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The Khaleej Times reported on September 27 that Ahmed Ismail, co-founder of Daman Virtual, highlighted the UAE’s rare combination of established banking infrastructure, specialist virtual asset regulation and direct access to capital and trade flows across the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa. This positioning allows the country to act as a bridge as traditional finance and digital assets converge. Ismail noted that the UAE’s digital asset market has matured considerably. Everyone can now see that maturity in the composition of activity, he added.
According to Chainalysis data cited by Ismail, the country received more than $56 billion in crypto value during the latest reporting period. Large institutional transactions grew by more than 50 per cent in that time. The executive explained that institutions seek connectivity between digital asset infrastructure and traditional financial markets through banking rails, liquidity, reliable settlement and regulatory oversight.
“The UAE is ticking all the right boxes. If it continues to weave these elements into a cohesive ecosystem, it can serve as a vital bridge between digital asset infrastructure and traditional financial markets,” Ismail told the publication. He said the components are now starting to connect in ways that matter to institutional participants.
A December 2025 report by Bybit and DL Research ranked the UAE fifth globally in crypto adoption. The assessment described the country as a policy-first global tokenisation hub that combines ambitious regulatory frameworks with grassroots usage. It positioned the UAE as the de facto bridge between Asia, Europe and Africa in tokenised finance. Dubai has emerged as a focal point for asset tokenisation pilots and settlement systems backed by clear anti-money laundering guidelines, the report found.
The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has issued frameworks that support licensed operations for digital asset firms, according to regulatory announcements. These rules have enabled the growth of stablecoins and tokenised assets that interface directly with conventional banking systems. A separate PwC Middle East review of GCC digital transformation noted the UAE’s progress in this area as among the bloc’s most active reform streams. Such measures provide the oversight and infrastructure that facilitate the bridging role Ismail described.
Zero taxes on crypto activities have further attracted participants to the jurisdiction, industry figures have stated. Regulators have licensed numerous platforms to operate under supervised conditions. This ecosystem supports the convergence of digital assets with traditional finance while maintaining compliance standards.
